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Demonstrating GenSmarts
DearREADERS,
This past Saturday, Ol' Myrt had the distinct pleasure of giving a presentation
about GENSMARTS, the artificial intelligence software that
helps researchers look at their genealogy database and come up with suggestions
of books and online resources that might provide documentation to prove an event
or family relationship.
Ol' Myrt knew she could rely on her PowerPoint presentation to demonstrate what
happens when one does a GENSMARTS SmartSearch for an online census record, etc.
(One never knows if wireless internet connections will work in real time during
the class.)
BUT THE INTERNET CONNECTION DID WORK Saturday, so I had a blast showing the
class how fantastic GENSMARTS really is! On your command, GenSmarts opens a new
window, goes to the appropriate census search at Ancestry (or HeritageQuest) and
literally types in the ancestor's name, and clicks the
Ancestry.com search button, while you sit back, and watch the action!
Ol' Myrt demonstrated how to save the census graphic, switch to RootsMagic (or
other genealogy software) to immediately attach the graphic to each person in
the family mentioned in the census record. I also showed how to copy/paste
Ancestry.com's database description and URL for proper bibliographic
citation. It is also wise to make a transcription of the census record in an
ancestor's notes in RootsMagic, and then copy/paste that typed descriptive
paragraph from the head of household's notes to each of the other applicable
family members' notes.
OTHER POINTS DISCUSSED DURING THE CLASS:
-- how to narrow the search to one root ancestor (Ol' Myrt gets over 40,000
GenSmarts suggestions with her database of 16,000+ names)
-- how to mark entries as FOUND, NOT FOUND, IGNORE (Ignore is what I do for
irrelevant suggestions, such as looking for a marriage record in one place when
I've already found it in another state.)
-- how to pull up PLAN TO SEARCH marked items
-- how to search just for MISSOURI +marriage, etc.
-- how to narrow the search to a specific research facility
-- how to print a list of entries to search on the shelves at the Dallas
public library (or any of the listed research facilities for that matter)
NOTE: The comment on the GENSMARTS website about GENSMARTS not working on a Mac
with Windows emulator might need to be changed. One class participant has a
brand new MAC, and reports that GenSmarts does work according to his experience.
I asked GENSMARTS creator Aaron Underwood to comment on this, and will let my
readers know ASAP. I want to be sure that all elements of
GENSMARTS work properly before recommending it to my MAC readers and listeners.
BTW I NEVER recommend hitting GENSMART'S "AVAILABLE ONLINE" button, as there can
be more than one database to search, and I don't want people to miss the
opportunity to search each. OL' MYRT INSISTS that people hit that down-arrow
button to the right of the "AVAILABLE ONLINE" button. Then check out the list of
applicable online resources, being careful to work through each database. During
class Saturday, I also explained the differences between Browse, SmartLink and
SmartSearch.
HOW DOES GENSMARTS WORK? In layman's terms,
GENSMARTS looks at the names, dates and localities you've typed into your
genealogy management program and compares each with databases online at a
variety of places including Ancestry, HeritageQuest,
1837online.com, etc. GENSMARTS also looks at online catalogs of books held at libraries throughout the US. GENSMARTS
is
particularly strong for the US, with some Canadian and British entries as well.
The RESULT OF THE COMPARISON is a "to-do list" that you work through to find
indexes and ultimately documents that prove family relationships. Locating a
christening record could list the parents of your ancestor. Of course not all
documents are scanned and available online, so GENSMARTS points researchers to
offline resources.
GENSMARTS EXPLAINS THE LOGIC behind each suggestion and includes the ability to
email the suggestion to someone (perhaps a distant cousin who will be visiting
Salt Lake's Family History Library next week.) I've sent a carbon copy email to
my own "Gmail" account, so that I could access the GENSMARTS suggestions without
bringing my laptop or printing them out. I merely signed on to my Gmail account
using the Family History Library's computers to remind myself of a specific call
number for an index book.
Saturday's GENSMARTS presentation was well-received, with over 100 people
attending the class, standing room only. At least ten people mentioned they
purchased the program a number of years ago, but never really knew how to use
it. The class sparked interest in using the program to effectively work through
research possibilities tailored to one's particular ancestors. Two Family
History Centers (including the Bellevue Washington FHC) are interested in
getting their free copy of GENSMARTS for their FHC computers.
I've asked Aaron to send me a new GENSMARTS CD
since it includes several free training videos - one is about 15 minutes long,
the other is 60 minutes long. This is just the sort of thing you might like to
share as a program for your local genealogy society. Ol' Myrt plans to provide a
90-minute training session on GenSmarts 19 Dec 2006 as part of the continuing
education program I am teaching on Tuesdays at our local FHC.
http://bellevuewafhc.com. I'll use excerpts from the videos to provide a
different voice for my students' learning experience.
BTW, I moved my podcasts, including my interview with GENSMARTS' Aaron
Underwood, to
http://podcasts.DearMYRTLE.com.
OL' MYRT DOES HAVE A QUESTION FOR GENSMARTS: Is there any way to transfer the
results of my GENSMARTS work from one computer to another? For instance, I don't
want to rework the list just because I am moving from my old desktop to this new
laptop. I can see this sort of utility would be useful as genealogists, like the
rest of the world, tend to replace our computers every few years or so.
FOR FURTHER READING & TO DOWNLOAD A FREE GENSMARTS DEMO see:
http://www.gensmarts.com
Happy family tree climbing!
Myrt :)
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